I'm known for my strong views on mobile technology, online media, and the effect this has on and communication will have on the public conscious and existing businesses.
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Sometimes the smartphone market share doesn’t tell the whole story. That’s why studies looking at other metrics are important, and Opera Mediaworks’ State of Mobile Advertising for Q2013 is one such report. While Google’s Android OS might have far more market share in terms of units, Apple’s iOS brought in more revenue and more impressions across the platform.

In essence, iOS users are participating in activities that are bringing them into contact with more advertising than Android users – both through browsing and mobile banner advertising, and through in-app advertising. They are more likely to participate in a campaign, and they will generate more revenue for those looking to advertising as an income stream for their mobile projects. That makes iOS a much richer and profitable platform.

Looking at the revenue generated on mobile, iOS took 36.4% of the revenue available, while Android was almost ten percent lower, on 27.8%. Advertising methods favoured in-app advertising, with an improved click-through some 1.7 times more than an advert on a mobile website.

The numbers were gathered through Opera’s Mediaworks platform, which supports over 13,000 websites and applications, and delivers over 60 billion ad impressions per month. User ID data from the smartphones in use provides the platform statistics.

While many see mobile advertising as the best way to monetise coding and development on mobile, it’s still an area that is growing. It’s great to see actual numbers from Opera, and while it’s just one advertising network, the sample size is large enough that the trend should be considered clear, even if the percentages might be one or two digits out.

The upshot of all this is simple. If you’re looking to make money through advertising, the answer is to build an app that targets iOS as a platform, with US based customers as your audience.

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